According to a report published this week by the ADL (Anti-Defamation League), antisemitic incidents spiked in 2021, reaching the highest levels ever seen in the United States. 

The ADL, founded in 1913, is a leading anti-hate organization, that tracks and responds to incidents of extremist hate crimes, antisemitism and bigotry. The ADL website encourages victims of antisemitism to report their experiences on their site, and fosters anti-bias education.

According to the ADL’s Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, the agency counted over 2,700 incidents of antisemitism in the US in the last year, averaging out to an alarming seven antisemitic incidents each day. 

In 2020, the ADL reported about 2,000 incidents. The 2021 numbers are the highest on record since 1979.

In addition to being the target of hate crimes, Jewish people are routinely harassed directly, or online. The harassment statistics from 2021 showed a 43% increase from 2020, with an alarming 1,776 incidents of harassment, consisting of verbal abuse, antisemitic conspiracy theories and stereotypes. 
Former New York City Assemblyman, Dov Hikind, is the founder of Americans Against Antisemitism. In a statement to Fox News, he said that Jewish people are afraid to walk with a yarmulke in the NYC streets, with the fear of getting attacked. 

Antisemitic vandalism incidents have also increased, from 751 incidents in 2020 to 853 in 201, the ADL audit found. 

The ADL associates the spike in numbers to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where 11 people were killed and six were wounded during Saturday religious services on October 27, 2018. 

The report stated that 2021 showed the highest number of antisemitic incidents ever reported in Massachusetts, where a rabbi in Brighton was stabbed. Harassment, vandalism and assaults all spiked, compared to numbers in previous years. 

ADL’s CEO and director, Jonathan Greenblatt, said that the antisemitic incidents in the US are the highest in 40 years, a big concern for Jews in general, and society as a whole. 

The highest number of incidents in 2021 were reported in New York, New Jersey and California. 

Former Assemblyman Hikind said it’s likely the numbers are even higher, because many people do not report antisemitic incidents.